Friday Report: 'Nightmare' Slashes Into Top Spot

by Brandon Gray

A Nightmare on Elm Street

May 1, 2010

On Friday, A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) ripped into the top of the box office with an estimated $15.8 million on approximately 4,700 screens at 3,332 locations (which included a midnight opening of around $1.6 million), but little else transpired: the second-highest movie for the day, How to Train Your Dragon, made an estimated $2.5 million, while the debut of Furry Vengeance drew few viewers.

Among the recent crop of horror remakes, A Nightmare on Elm Street's opening day was second only to Friday the 13th (2009), which notched $19.3 million. Halloween (2007) nabbed $10.9 million on its first day, while The Texas Chainsaw Massacre grabbed $10.6 million and the rest of the slashers were under $10 million. However, Nightmare's start was not as well attended as Freddy Vs. Jason, which pulled in the equivalent of $18 million adjusted for ticket price inflation.

These horror movies tend to burn off much of their audience on the first day, and, if the new Nightmare follows a similar pattern to Friday the 13th, Halloween and others, its opening weekend will likely end up at less than $40 million.

How to Train Your Dragon eased 29 percent, and its total climbed to $184.1 million in 36 days, extending its lead over Monsters Vs. Aliens and further catching up to Kung Fu Panda at the same point. Date Night had its best Friday-to-Friday hold yet, down 25 percent to an estimated $2.5 million, bringing its total to $68.5 million in 22 days.

The Back-Up Plan took a standard dip in its second Friday, off 43 percent to an estimated $2.4 million for an $18.1 million tally in eight days. The Losers didn't take that much of a hit for its genre, although its numbers are still low. It fell 41 percent to an estimated $1.9 million, inching its total up to $14 million in eight days. Clash of the Titans (2010) also showed some traction with its 30 percent drop to an estimated $1.65 million, increasing its tally to $149.7 million in 29 days. The same can't be said for Kick-Ass, which tumbled 51 percent to an estimated $1.4 million, upping its total to $39.1 million in 15 days.

Two environmentalist family pictures floundered. Furry Vengeance dug up an estimated $1.7 million on its first day at 2,997 locations, which was well below par amongst comparable titles, while Oceans collapsed 60 percent to an estimated $830,000, which was worse than Earth (2009) last year and brought its tally to $11.7 million in nine days.